Donut Render 3D
Some images from my donut rendering..
Jazz Clubs in Manhattan
Bob Egan has written a nice post about the location of jazz clubs in NYC. I’m posting here in case his server quits for posterity. It is amazing how these clubs were really organically the first floors of homes, a few chairs, all beside one another. #history https://www.popspotsnyc.com/jazz_clubs/ Locations of Jazz Clubs in New York … Read more
The Yield Curve is the Contango state of Money
Had never realized this until thinking it through now, but the beautiful yield and inverted yield curve in finance that we all know and love can be considered the same as the forward contracts concept of contango and backwardation. A yield curve that is inverted is identical to an asset in backwardation – we just … Read more
The Oculus Quest 2 is amazing
…and feels like where we sat at the beginning of smart phone revolution when the iPhone 1-3 were released between 2007-2009. Just the start. Extremely excited for VR, which I believe is the next logical ‘screen’ to arrive at after the supersized OLED phase we are in now. WebXR (which streams immersive experiences) / 360 … Read more
Minimalist – Watch Design
Posting some of my other work / experiments in watch design… This is more of a study to learn about the curvature of lugs, bevels etc. Less a work than the learning the process right now.
Orange, Lemon, Lime (Citrus fruits) illustrate market dynamics
If you were to study gravity, you’d want nearly a perfect Zero-G enviroment and then introduce 2 spheres. It would give the ideal experimental result by removing all other noisy variables that you’d find in the real world. Enter the Lemon… If one were to think about how multiple items are produced and purchased. I … Read more
Strange Loops and the responsibility of Art
One concept that I’m pondering is the act of bringing people along… in the same referential frame. An unfinished idea currently.. In my mind’s eye, I see sort of a drivable bus on a rollercoaster type image. On the bus, what the driver sees is for argument’s sake, exactly what the passenger can see. … Read more
What do you personally think dark matter is? Random guesses
Most people take issue with speaking about things they are not qualified to discuss, but apparently I am lacking this better judgement :) The result of which is just being wrong… Posting some wild speculations to the Quora question: What do you personally think dark matter is? Alwin: Just finished reading the the book 4% … Read more
Watch Idea – The Telephone
Sketched a quick idea based on the idea of the classic model 500 telephone, (on a watch). Here it is.
Intricate geometries on spacetime’s rubber sheet
posted this question on Quora: https://www.quora.com/q/astrophysics1/What-unusual-geometries-on-the-Reimannian-rubber-sheet-of-spacetime-exist-according-to-general-relativity What unusual geometries on the Reimannian ‘rubber sheet‘ of spacetime exist according to general relativity Hello Astrophysicists, a very specific question for you. It seems that the Reimannian ‘rubber sheet’ model of spacetime is useful in describing phenomena that we observe. Some examples below. vanilla gravity: curved spacetime given … Read more
#thoughtoftheday – A commonality between chess and life
It’s interesting to note that in #chess, like life, a player can have ample material but not enough time (tempo) to win or succeed. This is common in a chess game where the player with less material emerges ahead It’s an interesting but not entirely identical feature, shared characteristic between the two. (Chess games have … Read more
Both Directions at Once – The Lost Album of John Coltrane
After 55 Years, though the originals were erased, the world kept a copy and we have this album of new material from John Coltrane’s Quartet. Just #thankful that it is here as a document. Coltrane the person, the soul, the musician is like staring at the sky. Thank you Ken Drucker and Ravi Coltrane for … Read more
This couple from the bus…
It was an honor to stand behind this couple.. they were holding hands the whole time I saw them and clearly loved each other from their simple gestures. Because of their fragility, they navigated the world in a way that made our world seem Barbaric. They were dressed in absolutely pressed and formal clothing, and … Read more
Aim for the Third Frame
I’ve been thinking about the concept of a shared frame of reference as the beginning of all understanding between 2 disagreeing parties. Is agreeing on axioms and shared perceptual frames the only way to start connecting and speaking meaningfully about something usually subjective? Noticing that people usually who speak from a subjective ‘I’/my frame, may … Read more
Photo of the Week – Grand Central Subway
There is just something that I really love about this photo. Perhaps the balance of white and black, just a random moment in time. Waiting for the 7 Train in Grand Central Subway Terminal.
The most feared song in Jazz should be…
#Thoughtoftheday – The new most feared song in Jazz should be Giant Steps with 12 choruses of solos ascending a semitone or going down a perfect 5th after each chorus. Congrats to Vox on this video. I think the best explanation yet, without 20,000 hours of practice.
Royal KMM Typewriter – User Manual (PDF)
Love my Royal KMM.. (as many of you know, or could easily guess). Here is the user manual, years from now, maybe this one of the extant redundant copies. Royal KMM Typewriter – Manual (PDF) Cheers’
HME2 – the Queen of England’s Email
I think of myself as long lived. Growing up in a computer store, seeing many twists and turns within the technology space – I often bounce around as a tech veteran – then you see this, the Queen of England trying email for the first time in 1976 and realize that those among us are … Read more
Design: One possible definition
Engineering is the application of science to solve problems; Design is using art to do the same thing. You heard it here first friends ;) -Alwin
Updated: New Photo of the Village Vanguard (2018) on Wikipedia
My apologies for the slow uptake on writing, it has been forever and much has changed. Nearing the end of the work-to-live ‘day job epoch’ and hopefully will enter the ‘creative freedom epoch’ within the next couple years. Uploaded another pic of the Village Vanguard to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Village_Vanguard. Enjoy!
More Stable Rocket Vertical Landings?
Just a brainstorm. If the power is provided from above the center of gravity, then it will be easier to land. Sent to @ElonMusk through twitter. : )
Marriage of Libraries + Bookstores into…
With the decline of both libraries and bookstores. It makes sense to consider that: 1. Lifelong learning and retraining of skills is more important than ever 2. Bookstores often are burdened by bricks and mortar (ie. rent) for an otherwise favorable public good 3. Libraries suffer from low user bases and are becoming obsolete in … Read more
Catharsis in Art and its similarity to heat transfer
I’m amazed at how humans know when something is heartfelt/emotional and how others remarkably respond to it. When a person speaks sincerely, through whatever mechanism, we tend to understand that person all the more through an emotional lens versus, just an intellectual one. I suspect part of the reason it is so fun to watch … Read more
Inevitable Directions – Predictions on VR @ CES 2017
It was my first time at CES this year (2017) and was thrilled to see so many products and innovative ideas under one roof. I guess under any other year, things may be highly seasonal like fashion, but because we are changing as a society so quickly technologically, it really was a display of the … Read more
Codec Land – Html 5 Video – .Mov to Mp4, No Audio in FF Fix – VLC convert to Webm
Hi I’m not sure if anyone requires this answer, but in the interest of providing them online. Converted .MOV file to Mp4, it is a container file difference so I just changed the file extension. Embedded Html 5 Video. No audio in Firefox. It turns out the FF only runs with open source / free … Read more
Photo of the Village Vanguard
A photo taken of the Village Vanguard has been up for several months now on wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Village_Vanguard About as sweet as the sound of Coleman Hawkins in Body and Soul.
Flipper OCR – DIY Full Book Automated Scanning
Hi – just kind of throwing this out there. One of those what if ideas…Would be kind of cool to DIY bookscan. Calling it FlipperOCR. If you think you can make this, please do!
Seismology and Market Prediction
The phenomena of both earthquakes and the stockmarket. working thesis, the dynamics which make both unpredictable is the same. A buildup and unsustainable unbalancing phase followed by the crash portion. An unlocking. A lot of people would use that analogy as obvious, but take it one step further. Can seismologist just study financial charts as … Read more
Linking Crosswords + Poetry, Babies as no-design Design
Linking Crosswords and Poetry: Read a poem in the subway the other day. It was a poem put there by the MTA. As well as rhythm, and the ‘sound in the mouth’ kinesthetic sense of what it was to say them, this poem depended on rich associations of a some key words and symbols. To … Read more
UltraMeta: Life Affirmation
This is an extremely ‘meta’ post about life and happiness. But with that said, perhaps a hard won truth. Without being too ‘abstract’ about it: Above the basics needed, the expression of courage is what brings happiness to life. It is why having kids, or giving to charity, climbing everest or making something beautiful is … Read more